diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 29ead939cc..2413a1fcf5 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -7,6 +7,9 @@ cabal.project.local
 
 .tasty-rerun-log
 
+# emacs
+/.dir-locals.el
+
 # shake build information
 _build/
 
diff --git a/hls-plugin-api/src/Ide/Plugin/Config.hs b/hls-plugin-api/src/Ide/Plugin/Config.hs
index 4fee92c309..cad73f608d 100644
--- a/hls-plugin-api/src/Ide/Plugin/Config.hs
+++ b/hls-plugin-api/src/Ide/Plugin/Config.hs
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import           Ide.Types
 -- | Given a DidChangeConfigurationNotification message, this function returns the parsed
 -- Config object if possible.
 getConfigFromNotification :: IdePlugins s -> Config -> A.Value -> Either T.Text Config
+getConfigFromNotification _ defaultValue A.Null  = Right defaultValue
 getConfigFromNotification plugins defaultValue p =
   case A.parse (parseConfig plugins defaultValue) p of
     A.Success c -> Right c